Housewife Files: Nozomi Toujou
by hirumisan
Summary: Eli Ayase. Successful CEO of a large conglomerate. A perfectionist of the highest calibre, her work is always well-renowned and absolutely amazing. How does she do it? Well, as the saying goes, behind every great woman is another great woman! Well, I'm sure it went something like that!
1. Drowsy

Projects upon projects upon projects, and she was tired. "Dedicated" an anti-hyperbolic understatement, "workaholic" not quite there either as it implied that she actually enjoyed three straight all nighters and the coffee high that was the only thing sustaining her body, Eli tapped away at her keyboard, the words appearing on her screen droning on and on, almost rhythmically, dragging her closer and closer to the table…

"N-No!" She thought to herself, forcing her eyes to open wide, straightening her posture again, uncrumpling her stiff, pale-brown suit.

She had become successful. That was a given. It always had been to everyone who had ever had the great fortune of meeting her. "Eli Ayase was going to become someone in this world." That's what everyone had thought, and no one for a moment doubted that, but along with success came the work with which perpetuated it or even succeeded it.

Eli sighed. Her vacation seemed so far away, her break from this monotonous routine straying further from her path with each passing day. "I want to dance again…" She reminisced the days when she truly, truly enjoyed what she did. "I want to sing again…" The flashing lights, the beautiful costumes, the free-spirited stage, and the shining people upon it, oh how she yearned for those days!

"Ah...I...can't…" She tried to protest against her body as she realised she was about to fall asleep.

'Mrs Ayase...Mrs Ayase…?' She could hear a voice in the distance as her eyes shut tightly.

"I...still...have...so...much...to…"

Her soft breaths were all her secretary heard in response. 'Oh dear. It seems Mrs Ayase has fallen asleep!'

'I'll just let myself in then.' Nozomi began walking towards the large door leading to Eli's office.

'I'm afraid she locked the door in order to deter you, Ms Ayase!'

"That's...really weird!" Nozomi wasn't, of course, talking about the whole locked door thing: Eli knew her well enough to know that was about the only way she had to fight back against Nozomi dragging her back home to sleep (Nozomi knew Eli well enough to know that Eli knew this, of course, and already made a duplicate of Eli's office key). What she thought was weird was the way the secretary had addressed her! "Ms Ayase, huh?" Eli's last secretary had done nothing of the sort! "I'll ask Eli about it later".

Nozomi unlocked the large corporate door, opening it slowly and peeking in.

"This is pretty...bleak." The room was completely dark save for the bright light coming from Eli's desk. There, she could see Eli, peacefully asleep, most likely making a real mess of her work as she lay upon her keyboard.

Nozomi delightfully walked over to her side. 'Heheheh…' She laughed deviously as she got out her phone and snapped a quick picture. "Overworked Elicchi is too cute to miss~" She was sure to bring this picture up later to tease Eli. 'Alright…'

She slowly lifted Eli onto her back, leaning forward such that Eli's arms naturally fell over her shoulders. Nozomi felt Eli's arms tighten firmly around her neck and sighed. This had happened much too often for it to become instinctual even while she was unconscious. She took a quick glance at Eli's laptop and put it to sleep, deciding to "accidentally" forget it on the way out.

Slowly carrying her out of the office, a cursory farewell to the secretary and 40 floors of elevatoring down saw them in the car of Eli's private chauffeur and on their way home.

'Huh!' Eli shot up from Nozomi's lap, waking up. 'W-Where am I?'

'You know…' The sound of Nozomi's voice instantly alerted Eli to the fact that they were on their way home. 'You're new secretary said the funniest thing to me just now.'

She looked at Nozomi, at her smug expression, at her closed eyes, and sighed, relenting to her. 'Oh yeah?'

'She called me "Ms Ayase".' Nozomi opened one of her eyes and glanced at Eli. 'Isn't that weird?'

Eli thought for a moment before responding. 'Well, she asked if I was married and I said that I was absentmindedly. She started calling me "Mrs" and asking me all sorts of things about my "husband". When I told her about you, she was really surprised.' Eli laughed a bit. 'That must be why.'

'Is that so…?' Nozomi said wistfully, leaning on Eli's shoulder. 'Well, we are married~'

'Yes, but only in America. Not here.' Eli responded, leaning on Nozomi's head, smiling.

'Not yet~' Nozomi giggled.

'...Not yet.'

'...Mrs Ayase, Ms Ayase. We have arrived.' The car slowed to a stop in front of the Ayase residence, a normal, two-story, family house on the corner of an ordinary street.

'Oh please, Marie, you don't have to feel obligated to call us that.' Eli laughed, following Nozomi out of the car.

'M-My apologies…' She seemed embarrassed.

'...But I'm not opposed to it.' Eli said, smiling into the front window, before turning around and walking towards her house.

'Ms Ayase...has a nice to ring to it, doesn't it?' Nozomi brought her hand towards Eli's, interlocking their fingers.

'Yeah, yeah.'

They cuddle so closely in bed that it makes you wonder why they need such a big one.

Nozomi had her face comfortably buried in Eli's chest, caught in her firm embrace. Eli had her chin on Nozomi's head, the gentle smell of her hair a familiar and comforting sound. Their legs intertwined willy-nillily, mostly still, occasionally rubbing against each other.

'You know…' Eli started, looking for a reaction. She felt Nozomi perk up a bit, signalling that she was awake and listening. 'I still have a lot of work to do...but thanks.

Nozomi could feel Eli's embrace tighten a bit.

'I know I can be...a bit difficult sometimes...tunnel vision, as it were... but I'm glad that you're always here to reel me back in...to take care of me…'

Nozomi could hear Eli get progressively more embarrassed as she continued.

'What I'm saying is...I'm just glad that you're here…I'm glad that I have you...'

"Ah, but that's wrong, Elicchi…" Nozomi thought to herself. "I should be glad that I have you. If it weren't for you, I would have never become the person I am today. I never would have started caring for people. I never would have started worrying about people. It was because of your stubborn, one-track mind that I was able to become the perfect counterbalance. I should be the one glad that you're here."

That was what Nozomi thought to herself, but if you think that she was going to say that, hell no! That would mean removing herself from the bountiful comfort that was Eli's bosom and perhaps perpetuating her already detrimental need to work. So instead, she just tightened her embrace of Eli. She thought that across her point perfectly~


	2. Calling in Sick

AN: The theme of today's Housewife File is: "A loved one's gaze is keener than self-reflection"~

EN: gay as hell

* * *

'Mmph…' She stirred conscious, unable to wrench her eyes open - or move any part of her body for that matter; all she could do...was take in the warmth.

… _._ There was, of course, the physical warmth accompanying the act of snuggling under a fluffy blanket with another, but overbearing that was the emotional warmth she felt.

 _W.….._ The scent of her loved one's hair wafted into her nose slowly, calmingly, their legs entwined messily, firmly clamped together for fear that the other would escape. Their arms lay gently around the other's stomach.

 _Wo….._ She could feel her loved one's breath on her chest, to the untrained mind soft and standard, but to her, it betrayed a certain sweetness to it which alluded to a tender feeling of bliss.

 _Work…_ Eli lamented the fact that such warmth had become so distant to her; it had been much too long since she had slept next to Nozomi, and yet her mind was filled with nothing but the undesirable desire to work, to advance, to busy herself with a schedule that was already 3 days ahead.

Slowly, a finger here, a toe there, Eli began to regain control of her unwilling body, and lifted herself unsteadily up. _I have to get up..._

'No way~' Arms wrapped smoothly around her waist, Nozomi pulled Eli back down on top of her. 'You're not going anywhere~❣' She rolled them to their sides, her legs unrelentingly caging one of Eli's.

'N-Nozomi…' Eli's voice was a little hoarse and a tad slow from her still-groggy state. 'I have to get to work…'

'I already called in sick for you~' Nozomi whispered, bringing Eli closer. 'After all, you're in no state to be working right now.' She hugged the defenseless Eli lovingly.

She wasn't wrong, of course; after her countless hours of non-stop work, Eli was now experiencing a crash, and a good night's rest had made her body realise what it was missing.

'Mm…' She groaned as she began to relent. _What's a day when you're three ahead of schedule?_ She brought her face closer to Nozomi's, her eyes opening slightly, and Nozomi smiled.

For just a moment, there was nothing but warmth and the insatiable desire to stay snuggled together…

For just a moment...as Eli's mind once again began to fill with that undesirable desire. _What if someone has questions for me? What if a plan falls through? What if an amazing opportunity arises while I'm not there?_

Her body seemed to repel the bed itself as she forced it to jump up. 'Elicchi…' Nozomi rose slowly, looking at Eli, smile dropping.

'Nozomi...I'm going to work.' Barely operational, hardly able to claim consciousness, Eli moved merely on her need to stay ahead of the curve, to be perfect in her work ethic. She moved for the closet, got out her suit, and began undressing.

Eyes still partially closed, Nozomi marvelled at the grace with which Eli was still able to exhibit while she moved, each step a choreographed piece of art. _What a view~❣_ Phone barely visible from above the bed sheets, Nozomi snuck a quick picture of the half-naked beauty before sighing. _I guess it's time for "breakfast"._ 'Be careful down the stairs~'

Much to Eli's surprise, Nozomi seemed to relent, but her words carried with them a hint of mischief. Whether through a momentary lapse in judgement or the sheer incapability to process information at the moment, Eli dismissed any notion of worry as she finished getting dressed, responding with a soft 'Yeah…' as she made her way out of the room.

Slowly regaining control of her body, her legs began speeding up, her vision began clearing. She sped through the hallway, trying to make up for the time she lost snuggling. _I can still make it!_ She took the stairs haphazardly, hopping them in threes. _I can still make it!_ Door in view, Eli slips her phone out of her pocket. _I can still…_ A blaring realisation hits her, delivered by her phone screen. _No way..._

Nozomi's soft steps down the stairs somehow also seemed to permeate cheekiness as Eli turned to face her. 'Why don't you stay for breakfast?' Nozomi's smug smile almost cracked and burst into laughter. 'After all, you're already 5 hours late~❣'

* * *

The oddity was not her eating breakfast at 12am, but rather in the fact that she was eating breakfast at all; Eli couldn't remember the last time she sat down in the dining room for a meal.

Eyes trained on the snug appearance of Nozomi in an apron, Eli, in more ways than one, was happy. However, as Nozomi worked away preparing the kitchen, back faced to Eli, humming a nostalgic melody, Eli refused to relent to her. She turned her nose up and pouted, closing her eyes. 'I can't believe you sometimes, Nozomi.' She opened an eye, checking for a response. Nozomi had just finished humming a song and moved to the next, seemingly ignoring Eli. 'You could have at least told me before I got changed.' Eli crossed her arms, sighing. 'Now I have to go back up stairs and change again, it's such a bother!' She checked once more for a reaction.

It was quite incredible, watching Nozomi dice onions efficiently with one hand. She lifted the other to her face, placing her index finger on her cheek. 'Really now?' A hint of mock drama in her voice, she swiveled around to face Eli, left hand on her chest, the right behind her. 'I, Nozomi Ayase, your wife, bearer of your last name, was lying on our bed, ready for my loved one, only to have her run out of the room on me!' Left hand still on her chest, she angled herself away from Eli, head downcast, as she brought her right hand up to wipe away an imaginary tear. 'What was I to do but lay in shock and contemplate the implications of her actions?' Shooting her right arm out, she reached out at the air longingly. 'Did she no longer love me?' She repeated the action with her left, almost cracking a smile. 'Was her work more important than me?' Her words filling with faux melodrama, she turned her back to Eli once more. 'Was I not good enough?'

'Nozomi…'

Nozomi audibly stifled laughter as she continued cooking. 'I'm joking, I'm-' She felt something wrapping around her. _W-When did she…?_

'Nozomi... I'm sorry.' She whispered it into her ear, voice cracking a bit, arms firm around Nozomi's stomach. A lump had formed in her throat as she listened to Nozomi.

'I-I'm telling you, it's a jo-'

'I know, I know.' Eli knew, of course. It was obvious that it was a joke. However, she swore she had felt it, she had no doubt that she felt it; the smallest bit...of sincerity. Whether it was in the words she chose or the actions she exaggerated, Nozomi herself didn't know, but it was painfully obvious to Eli, and it cut into her more than if a thousand knives thrown in stopped time were released into her all in the same moment, for even death wouldn't have been as horrible as the realisation that Nozomi felt this way. 'I'm sorry...I'm really, really sorry…' _No...no, that's not what I should be saying._

'I know you are, Elicchi, but this isn't right...' Nozomi laughed a bit. 'You're meant to get all flustered. I'm just teasing you…' She could feel moisture on her shoulder.

'I love you, Nozomi.' _...No, not that either._

'I know you do, Elicchi. I wasn't being serious when asked that.' Nozomi couldn't understand why Eli was taking this so seriously.

'You're the most important thing in the world to me, Nozomi.'

'I…' She didn't know that…or rather, somewhere deep inside her, she doubted it. '...Elicchi, go change. I'll be done with breakfast when you-'

Eli heard it; a voice tightened by tears, whispering its soft words, but yelling for comfort, and without hesitation, she spun Nozomi around to face her, Nozomi's back and hands on the kitchen counter.

'Mmph!' She had almost forgotten the soft, tingly sensation of Eli's lips, though unforgettable it was. Nozomi found her arms raising to embrace Eli, an ever-repressed longing finally surfacing. The soft sizzling of a frypan, the heavying breaths of two girls in love, she spoilt herself a bit, pressing forward…before she released Eli's lips. '...This isn't how it's meant to go…' Tears flowing, cheeks flushed, Nozomi couldn't bring herself to look a Eli. 'How am I meant to support you when you're acting all cool like this?'

Eli smiles at her. 'I have to be cool now. After all, I've been so selfish lately.' Her smile fades. 'Worrying you...ignoring you...only thinking about myself...worst of all, making you sad…'

 _Selfish…? Selfish…!?_ 'Selfish!?' She couldn't hold back her voice. ' _I_ was the one that dragged you back home! _I_ was the one that called in sick, that trapped you here, that wanted to keep you for myself!' She pushed Eli away, her words surprising even herself. _This...is how I feel?_ She had always justified her actions before, lied to herself, telling herself things like "it's for her sake", or "this is what I'm meant to do as a wife". ' _I_ was the one who was only thinking of myself!' Her words flowing as much as her tears, her expression pained, she saw within her actions the selfishness she had always possessed and couldn't hold herself back. 'How?! How can you call yourself selfish when-'

'Pff.'

Through her blurred vision, clouded by tears, she saw Eli, stifling laughter. 'W-What?'

She giggled a bit, unable to hold it in, bringing her right pinkie to her lip. 'I was just thinking about…how terrible I am.' She took a step, closing the distance between her and Nozomi. 'Your selfishness...the things you do for yourself...you do them because you love me, whereas I just do everything for some kind of sick, selfish satisfaction.'

'Th-That's…'

'Be selfish, Nozomi.' Eli brought her right hand to Nozomi's cheek, cradling it, wiping Nozomi's tears with her thumb. 'If not forever, then just for today...If not tomorrow, then the day after...because then we'll both be happy.'

'Elicchi…' She brought her left hand up to hold Eli's right on her cheek.

'Nozomi…' It was as if the name escaped her lips, fueled by nothing but longing, as she stared into the glistening green eyes she had long since stopped thinking comparable to beautiful objects of similar colour in favour of pure happiness. Nozomi's uneven breaths, attempting to regain rhythm, were adorable. Nozomi's cheeks, wet with tears, were adorable. Even her scent, masked slightly by tears and smoke, was sweet to Eli, perfect because it was Nozomi's. _...Smoke…?_

'Aah!' Eli yelled, letting go of Nozomi and pointing to the kitchen counter. 'Nozomi, the pan!'

'W-What?' Turning around to look at the pan, Nozomi saw what was supposed to be their breakfast, burning to a crisp. 'Aah…'

There was the soft clicks of a stove being turned off, then silence, and then laughter.

'Why don't…' Eli paused, suppressing her laughter. '...Why don't we skip breakfast, and just make lunch. I'll help out.'

'Yeah…' Nozomi exhaled, her laughter dying out. 'That'd be good.'

Eyes and cheeks red, throats sore from crying and speaking with passion, they smiled at each other, satisfied.

'You might want to change first, though.' She pulled at Eli's suit, giggling.

'O-Oh, right. I'll be right back.' Eli began walking towards the stairs.

'I'll just get started then,' Nozomi said, turning around to face the counter.

Soft, rushed footsteps rang out from above, telling Nozomi for sure that Eli couldn't see her.

'Mō…' Nozomi sank into a squat, arms wrapped around her legs, her warm face buried in her knees. 'This isn't fair...' She mumbled under her breath. 'You're too amazing, Elicchi…'


	3. My Ring, Your Ring

AN: Short. Kinda just me wanting to finish this off.

* * *

…I have to be cool now…

…sick, selfish, satisfaction…

…If not forever, then today...If not tomorrow, then the day after…

'MMMMMM!' She screamed. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed, in a manic attempt to quell her embarrassment.

W-W-What was that!? I said that!? What did that last one even mean!?

Even through her closed mouth, her faint lamentation brought heed of her apparent regret.

'MMMMMM!' More 'internal' screaming, lamenting, regretting…and then silence. She slowly dropped her arms to her side, looking up at the ceiling.

...Those were my true feelings though. That will never change.

She sighed, cooling down a bit. 'Regardless…'

… I was the one that dragged you back home...I was the one that called in sick, that trapped you here, that wanted to keep you for myself…

...That was your selfishness, huh?

Nozomi's words bounced around her mind, invading her body, sending delicate chills down her spine.

Even when you're thinking of yourself… you're thinking of me…

A heavy pang of joy, the sharp pain of love, Eli's feelings were bittersweet.

'Mō…' Eli sank into a squat, arms wrapped around her legs, her warm face buried in her knees. 'This isn't fair...' She mumbled under her breath. 'You're too amazing, Nozomi…'

* * *

A savoury scent sang from the shallow dish, roofed with a crust of breadcrumbs and butter, browned to perfection. Cut into it, and the you're met with the wonderfully warm wafting of potato, with a hint of cheese and onions. Le "Gratin de Pommes de Terre" est prêt~

In other words, Eli and Nozomi were having potato gratin for lunch. It was a simple dish, but through a combination of perfected cooking abilities and love, it was to be an absolute delight!

'Itadakimasu~' They both had their first spoonful.

Chew...chew...chew...

'Mm!' Eli grinned. 'It's delicious.'

'Hm…' Nozomi closed her eyes, her brow furrowed, her lips raised.

'You don't like it?' Eli frowned, worried.

'It's not that it isn't good…' Nozomi smirked, bringing her right pointer to her lips. 'I must have spoilt my lunch by having something sweet before it~'

'Pff.' Eli cracked a smile. She knew well enough that getting flustered here was a one way ticket to torrential-teasing-town. 'Yeah, yeah,' she waved dismissively. 'You can't feed yourself off of kisses alone, so unless you actually have any problems with it, eat up.'

'Ufufufu~' Nozomi beamed. 'That's a dangerous challenge, Elichi~' She pushed her chair forward a tad, slowly leaning in.

'If it's dangerous, then don't take me up on it.' Eli sighed, placing her palm on Nozomi's nose and firmly pushing her away.

'Kya~' Nozomi giggled.

They both had another spoonful.

Chew...chew...chew...

'It really is good though.' Nozomi grinned. 'Must be because you helped out, Elichi~'

'I barely managed to do anything, though...' She chuckled dryly.

For Eli, the cooking process had been rather simple; admire Nozomi's handiwork and occasionally pass her a spoon.

'You've gotten really good at cooking, Nozomi.'

'Oh ho?' A smirk crept onto Nozomi's face. 'Well, I did have a lot of time to practise while I was waiting for you to come home~'

Eli winced. That hit a sore spot.

Nozomi wasn't joking. It was her 'favourite' thing to do after all, to wait for Eli to come home. If she wasn't with Eli (or dragging Eli home), she was waiting. Cooking, cleaning, looking around the area for something fun to do, whatever; it was usually in anticipation of Eli's eventual return home.

'...I suppose you've earned the reigns for today then.' Eli smiled, remorsefully. If ever there were a good time to make it up to her, it'd be now. 'What would you like to do today?'

'Ufufufu…' A DVD case seemingly materialised out of nowhere as Nozomi holds it up mischievously. 'This horror' - hard emphasis placed on the word - 'movie is all the rage these days…'

'I-Is it now…?' Eli's eyes averted to the unrelenting maliciousness in Nozomi's wide grin.

'Ehehehe~' Nozomi giggled.

'E-Ehehehe…' Eli giggled. It seemed very obvious to her that she had been tricked. Her chair screeched loudly as she jumped up and span. It didn't matter to her where she ran, as long as she got away.

'You're not going anywhere~' She tightly grasped Eli's retreating arm. 'After all…ehehehe…'

Panicked, rushed, she stared into Nozomi's calm, sadistic eyes. 'Nononononono!'

'I've got the reigns for today~'

'KYAAAAAAAAAA!'

* * *

"Death Ringer 3" is a romantic/horror film that, unorthodox to the genre, has a happy, non-ambiguous ending. It has its fair share of both atmospheric horror, and cheap, jumpy horror, tying them both together with a romantic subplot that motivates a contemporary audience to watch it in its entirety. Meticulously chosen by Nozomi, she was sure this film would get the best reactions out of Eli.

She was right.

Amidst the adorable blood curdling screams of terror, and the romantic clamping of Nozomi's right arm, Eli's episodes of teary-eyed adoration were asked for and received. Her favourite scene by far was the climactic finale where, (spoilers for those who haven't seen it) standing outside of the murder cave, blanketed in the orange glow of the rising sun, Francis fashioned a small ring out of a clean bit of aluminium and used it to propose to Janet.

'It just goes to show that throughout the entire film, Francis's driving force was his love for Janet,' Eli sighs, hand on cheek and hand on heart. 'All he needed to show his love was a little bit of aluminium, and all of his heart…isn't that wonderful?'

'Pff.' Nozomi snickered.

'W-What? You've a problem with that?'

'No no…' Nozomi closed her eyes. 'It's just…well...funny, you saying that…' She raised her right hand up. '...Despite the ring you proposed to me with.'

'Ah…' Eli blushed, wide eyed. '...I suppose it was a tad more than a little bit of aluminium.'

'A "tad" more?' Nozomi laughed. 'Try ten million dollars more!' She crossed her arms, raising her chin and pouting. 'You made me feel very inadequate about my ring to you.'

'Oh, but you handmade yours!' She raised her left hand to admire it. 'Your effort in casting, engraving, even carving such a beautiful ring…if anything, I should be the one feeling inadequate!'

They looked at each other for a moment before both smiling at the triviality of the conversation. They laced their ringed fingers as they sank back into the couch.

'We settled this already, didn't we?' Nozomi giggled, her head tilting onto Eli's shoulder. 'Winning the world's most expensive diamond ring on an offshore gambling den at the albeit calculated risk of your entire company is effort enough.'

'Yes, and I wouldn't exactly call the materials used to make this ring cheap.' Eli laughed, leaning onto Nozomi's head.

They spend a moment in silence, not particularly because of them wanted to, but simply because neither of them felt the need not to. They were there. They were together. They were happy.

'You know what? I think I'm going to go on a vacation.'

'Oh?' This surprised Nozomi. 'Where to?'

'Right...here.' Eli slid from the couch onto Nozomi's lap. 'Can't think of a better place to relax, really.'

'Ehehe~' Nozomi ran her hand through Eli's hair. 'And am I invited on this "vacation"?'

'Of course,' Eli giggled. 'You're my wife, after all~'


End file.
